But as I mentioned earlier to get bigger arms alot times weight lifters will focus on bicep curls. This is not a good way to get bigger arms because the bicep only makes up one third the total size of the upper arm. To get bigger arms you must target the triceps muscle. When people ask me how to get bigger arms I tell them just one exercise "dips."
Do dips and do a lot of them. I also warn them whenever you want to build muscle fast in a single area to stay away from isolation type exercises that target that area. Isolation type exercises will not build muscle fast and will do very little to increase the size of the muscle. To get bigger arms and to build muscle fast, you must focus on compound exercises that targets the triceps and biceps muscles. Let me explain.... to get bigger arms fast dips is the best and I speak from experience!! Think about this....have you seen the tricep muscles on male gymnasts? The dip exercise is basically the only true triceps exercise they do and they all have absolutely huge, thick, muscular triceps. Not to mention gymnasts are cartoon like in their muscularity. That is because of the type of exercises they do to get bigger and stronger.
Whenever you use your bodyweight for resistance and or bodyweight plus additional resistance while performing a compound movement you activate a greater number of muscle fibers than you would if you simply used a machine. Machines do not recruit as many muscle fibers particularly the muscle fibers that are responsible for stabilization. To get bigger arms and to build muscle fast whenever possible you want to try to move your body instead of simply moving the arm or an attachment on a machine. Although free weight exercises are very effective and a much better option than training on a machine, moving your own body will always be best when trying to get bigger arms.
Dips can be done on parallel bars, dip station or if you are really advanced gymnastics rings. There are diagrams of the best exercises to get bigger arms below but lower yourself no lower than the point where your triceps are parallel with the ground when doing dips. Going lower than this puts unneeded stress on your shoulders and it is not worth the risk of a severe injury.To get bigger arms and build muscle fast its kinda difficult to do this if you are injured.
Dips can be done three times a week . After just a couple of months you will definitely see why dips is the best exercise to get bigger arms. As you get stronger and more advanced I recommend to cut your dips down to twice per week and to add resistance. I love weighted dips and did them routinely with two 45 pound plates strapped around my waist. However, I have found that there is a high risk of injury with weighted heavy dips. Because of this I no longer do heavy weighted dips its just to risky!!
Intermediate lifters can do one day heavy, where you add resistance to your weight belt, and one day light where you simply do as many reps as possible till failure. These workouts should be a minimum of 3 days apart but more like 4 days apart. Once you get strong enough to do a 45 pound plate for safety reasons you probably will only want to use weighted dips as a rep exercise and not a heavy strength movement anymore. Again, this is to prevent injury or any disability as you age.
The next exercise to get bigger arms and build muscle fast in the triceps is a reduced range of motion bench press or a variation of it. The top half of the bench press really targets the triceps which is why you want to limit the range of motion when training simply to get bigger arms. To do this you can set pins in a power rack or have a workout buddy hold a few two by fours on your chest. These are called board presses. Three, four and five board presses are awesome to build muscle fast and get bigger arms by building huge triceps and should be added to your muscle building routine. When you get too strong to go heavy on dips without risking a shoulder injury, make board presses your heavy triceps movement and dips your light triceps exercise to get bigger arms. Looking for a bigger bench? How about a stronger lockout? Another reason to add board presses to your routine is because it will add strength to your bench press!! Board Presses have been a staple exercise in the power lifting game for many years yielding results ranging from personal to world records. Stick to these muscle building tips and you will get bigger arms and build muscle fast in your arms. Just keep pushing up the weight and reps and before you know it you will have some of the biggest triceps around!!
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| Board Presses |
So to get bigger arms lets now move on to the biceps muscle and discuss the exercises which are best to get your arms bigger. The biceps muscle anatomically known as the biceps brachii are comprised of two heads the short head or outer biceps and the long head or inner biceps. The biceps comprise one third of the upper portion of the upper arm and are used in all pulling movements. The best exercises to target and build bigger biceps and bigger arms is Pull-ups. If you are not strong enough to do pull ups you can do lat pull downs. The head that is responsible for the peak in the bicep when flexed is the brachialis head. You can hit all heads of the bicep by varying your grip while doing pull ups and or lat pull downs. Doing pull ups with a under hand close grip hits the long head of the bicep while doing a pull up with the grip variation between an overhand and under hand grip will hit the short head of the bicep which again is responsible for the peak in your biceps when flexed. To get bigger arms a trick I use to hit the biceps hard is to do underhand pull ups or lat pull downs with an underhand grip and as soon as I complete a set do Hammer curls. Hammer curls really hits the brachialis head which again is responsible for the peak in your biceps. Again the best way to build muscle and get bigger arms is by doing compound exercises because your body and muscles work best and harder when used together. The reason why compound exercises are best is because there is more nerve activity involved while performing the exercises the more nerve activity equals more muscle fibers being used in performing the exercise the more muscle fibers used the more growth you will get!!! To prove this point just think what happens to the muscles when ever there is some type of nerve injury. For example anyone with a sciatica condition knows this all to well. As soon as you have this condition what ever leg is affected muscle atrophy is almost instantaneous!!! When there is no nerve signals to the muscle the muscle starts to lose strength and size almost immediately. This is why compound exercises are best to get bigger arms and get bigger muscles. Pull ups puts a huge demand on your biceps and they work several muscles at the same time and force you to pull your own weight. Below are the exercises I recommend to get bigger arms followed by a recommended workout routine!!!
DIPS - TRICEPS VERSION
To get into the starting position, hold your body at arm's length with your arms nearly locked above the bars.
Now, inhale and slowly lower yourself downward. Your torso should remain upright and your elbows should stay close to your body. This helps to better focus on tricep involvement. Lower yourself until there is a 90 degree angle formed between the upper arm and forearm. Then, exhale and push your torso back up using your triceps to bring your body back to the starting position. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variations: If you are new at this exercise and do not have the strength to perform it, use a dip assist machine if available. These machines use weight to help you push your bodyweight. Otherwise, a spotter holding your legs can help. More advanced lifters can add weight to the exercise by using a weight belt that allows the addition of weighted plates.
CLOSE-GRIP BARBELL BENCH PRESS
Lie back on a flat bench. Using a close grip (around shoulder width), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your middle chest.
Make sure that - as opposed to a regular bench press - you keep the elbows close to the torso at all times in order to maximize triceps involvement.
After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your triceps muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again.
It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack. Caution: If you are new at this exercise, it is advised that you use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be conservative with the amount of weight used. Also, beware of letting the bar drift too far forward. You want the bar to fall on your middle chest and nowhere else.
Variations: This exercise can also be performed with an e-z bar using the inner handle as well as dumbbells, in which case the palms of the hands will be facing each other.
Stand up with your torso upright and a dumbbell on each hand being held at arms length. The elbows should be close to the torso.
The palms of the hands should be facing your torso. This will be your starting position.
Now, while holding your upper arm stationary, exhale and curl the weight forward while contracting the biceps. Continue toraise the weight until the biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a brief moment as you squeeze the biceps. Tip: Focus on keeping the elbow stationary and only moving your forearm.
After the brief pause, inhale and slowly begin the lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations: There are many possible variations for this movement. For instance, you can perform the exercise sitting down on a bench with or without back support and you can also perform it by alternating arms; first lift the right arm for one repetition, then the left, then the right, etc.
- Stand up straight while holding an EZ curl bar at the wide outer handle. The palms of your hands should be facing forward and slightly tilted inward due to the shape of the bar. Keep your elbows close to your torso. This will be your starting position.
- Now, while keeping your upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the weights forward while contracting the biceps. Focus on only moving your forearms.
- Continue to raise the weight until your biceps are fully contracted and the bar is at shoulder level. Hold the top contracted position for a moment and squeeze the biceps.
- Then inhale and slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations: You can also perform this movement using an E-Z attachment hooked to a low pulley. This variation seems toreally provide a good contraction at the top of the movement.
You may also use the closer grip for variety purposes.
Dumbbell Bicep Curl Guide
- Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand at arm's length. Keep your elbows close to your torso and rotate the palms of your hands until they are facing forward. This will be your starting position.
- Now, keeping the upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the weights while contracting your biceps. Continue to raise theweights until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a brief pause as you squeeze your biceps.
- Then, inhale and slowly begin to lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations: There are many possible variations for this movement. For instance, you can perform the exercise sitting down on a bench with or without back support and you can also perform it by alternating arms; first lift the right arm for one repetition, then the left, then the right, etc.
You can also do the exercise starting with both palms of the hands facing the torso and then rotating forward as the movement is performed. At the top of the movement the palms should face forward and the small finger should be higher than the thumb for a peak contraction.
Pull-ups
Grab the pull-up bar with the palms facing your torso and a grip closer than the shoulder width.
As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, keep your torso as straight as possible while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position. Tip: Keeping the torso as straight as possible maximizes biceps stimulation while minimizing back involvement.
As you breathe out, pull your torso up until your head is around the level of the pull-up bar. Concentrate on using the biceps muscles in order to perform the movement. Keep the elbows close to your body. Tip: The upper torso should remain stationary as it moves through space and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work other than hold the bar.
After a second of squeezing the biceps in the contracted position, slowly lower your torso back to the starting position; when your arms are fully extended. Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement.
Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variations:
If you are new at this exercise and do not have the strength to perform it, use a pull-up assist machine if available. These machines use weight to help you push your bodyweight.
Otherwise, a spotter holding your legs can help.
On the other hand, more advanced lifters can add weight to the exercise by using a weight belt that allows the addition of weighted plates.
Lat Pull Downs
Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip.Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equalto your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull down the bar using the forearms.
After a second at the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variations: The behind the neck variation is not recommended as it can be hard on the rotator cuff due to the hyperextension created by bringing the bar behind the neck
To Get Bigger Arms Workout Routine
(2 Days Weekly)
(2 Days Weekly)
2-4 sets Lat Pull downs (2 sets overhand 2sets underhand) to failure
2-4 sets Hammer Curls 8-12 reps
or
2-4 sets Pull ups (2 sets overhand 2 sets underhand) to failure
2-4 sets Hammer Curls 8-12 reps
Plus
2-4 sets Dips 8-12 reps
2-4 sets Board Presses 8-12 reps or
2 sets 8-12 reps Close Grip Bench-press
2 sets 8-12 reps Close Grip Bench-press
